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Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney cut off by London curfew

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So imagine this scenario: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band end their 30-song, three-hour set at London’s Hard Rock Calling by bringing out the King of England himself, Sir Paul McCartney. “I’ve been waiting for this for 50 years,” Bruce says before they begin playing The Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There” and a rousing 10-minute rendition of “Twist and Shout”.

Obviously, that’s the sort of event that’d be remembered and cherished and viewed on YouTube for years to come. Think again. According to CNN, festival organizers chose to pull the plug last night during “Twist and Shout” over fears of breaking curfew. Axl Rose and Lady Gaga were previously charged £72,000 and £10,000, respectively, for the similar violations, but apparently that’s too steep a price to see two legends share the stage. Go figure.

Update: E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt shared his thoughts on Twitter: “One of the great gigs ever in my opinion. But seriously, when did England become a police state? We break curfews in every country but only English cops needs to “punish us” by not letting us leave until the entire crowd goes. Is there just too much fun in the world? We would have been off by 11 if we’d done one more. On a Saturday night! Who were we disturbing? The cops got nothing more important to do? How about they go catch some criminals instead of fucking with 80,000 people having a good time? English cops may be the only individuals left on earth that wouldn’t want to hear one more from Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney! I’m sorry but I have to be honest I’m pissed. Like I said, it didn’t ruin the great night. But when I’m jamming with McCartney don’t bug me!”

Below, you can watch Springsteen and McCartney performing together prior to the sacreligious plug pulling.